Originally a coach house (a small building for housing coaches, carriages and other vehicles) dating back to the 1700’s, it is one of the oldest remaining public houses in the borough of Hackney which was formerly in the county of Middlesex.

The population at the time of the 1801 census was slightly under 2,000, an outbreak of smallpox at the end of the century ravaged Stoke Newington, affecting the prosperity of the area and causing people to flee elsewhere. With a regular horse bus service into Central London, Stoke Newington started to grow.